Obituary — Fr. Chuck Wonch, SCJ

On Monday, September 22, Fr. Chuck Wonch, SCJ, died. He was 78, and a member of the Sacred Heart Community at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake in Franklin, WI.

Originally from Coleville, WA, Fr. Chuck was 50 years old when he made his first profession in 1997. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2002.

Fr. Chuck had served in the US Air Force and earned degrees in Industrial Management from Jackson State University (Mississippi) and Theological Studies from Spring Hill College (Mobile, AL) before pursing his religious vocation. Initially, he planned to serve the Church as a lay minister.

“After earning a master’s in Theological Studies I worked with many parish priests and churches around central Mississippi,” he said. At the same time, he held a full-time job for 15 years as a purchasing supervisor at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station.

But increasingly, he said “God seemed to be calling me to come and follow Him and be of service to His people.” He had a second career vocation as a priest.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 2002 and soon after, joined the pastoral team that serves the Lower Brule and Crow Creek Reservations in South Dakota. In 2009, he moved to Hales Corners where he assisted at the vocation office.

Reflecting on his years of ministry as a Dehonian priest, Fr. Chuck said in an interview that “I will always treasure my time living and working with the people of Ft. Thompson and Lower Brule, South Dakota, and working with all the great priests in both the dioceses of Sioux Falls and Rapid City. I thank God for our religious community and my experiences with it; I have been blessed by them all.”

Besides his Dehonian family, Fr. Chuck is also survived by a daughter, Katie Emory, and son Tony Wonch, and grandchildren Alyssa, Aaron, Adam, Abby, and Hannah.

The Mass of Christian Burial is on September 30, at 10:30 a.m. at Good Shepherd Chapel at Sacred Heart at Monastery Lake. A wake will be held prior to the Mass, starting at 9:30 a.m. Burial will be in Washington State on October 4.